Support spreads for transgender teen after fight

Updated 5:45 pm, Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Family members and supporters of a transgender teen are urging Contra Costa County prosecutors to drop misdemeanor battery charges against the 16-year-old in connection with a fight at Hercules High School, saying she reacted only after being bullied and taunted on campus.

The dispute surrounding the teen, Jewlyes Gutierrez, has fueled national headlines and an online petition supporting her. Prosecutors, though, say they cannot discuss the case or the evidence that led to the charge because of juvenile confidentiality laws.

Jewlyes and several other students got into a fight at the school Nov. 13, with a portion of the confrontation caught by a witness' cell-phone camera. It shows several students chasing after Jewlyes, who was born male but considers herself female and wears her hair long.

Her supporters say the fight happened after Jewlyes had been teased for days about her gender identity by classmates.

Her attorney, Deputy Public DefenderKaylie Simon, said Wednesday that her client's plight "is a socially complex situation that would best be handled outside the court system. ... Prosecuting Jewlyes further victimizes her. She has continued to be tormented and harassed at school."

Simon said she hoped her conversations with Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Cabral would result in a "resolution that is in the best interest of all the minors."

Charles Ramsey, president of the West Contra Costa County Unified School District board, said Wednesday that the filing of charges sent the wrong message, noting that the district attorney's office deals with far more serious crimes. The students involved in the fight are facing sanctions by the school, he said.

"I don't understand why there is a criminal charge against the student," Ramsey said. "I'm just struggling with it."

Ramsey said he respected law enforcement's responsibility to crack down on campus attacks, but also said Gutierrez was "bullied" and "picked on." Instead of prosecution, he said, the incident could spur a "teachable moment" that looks into "what the underlying causation is for all of this."

A petition on change.org urging prosecutors to drop the charge against Gutierrez had collected more than 120,000 signatures by Wednesday. The online effort is being spearheaded by Gutierrez's sister, Valerie Poquiz, a UC Davis student.

"Her gender identity has caused her to be a victim of taunting, harassment and bullying by her peers," Poquiz wrote in the petition, adding that her sister had "defended herself against three girls who were tormenting and then physically attacked her."

Poquiz said Gutierrez had sought help from the assistant principal but that nothing was done by the administration. Ramsey said he takes full responsibility for school officials' being "slow to address" the issue.

The Transgender Law Center in San Francisco is also calling for the case to be dropped.

"We call on (prosecutors) to drop these criminal charges immediately and instead to work with the families and students involved to find an alternative means of resolving their conflict without putting an already vulnerable young person through a criminal prosecution," said Ilona Turner, the center's legal director.

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